Monday, November 1, 2010

"Fresh Air (some of it from a SCUBA tank) Bucket List"

This post was inspired by the Outdoor Blogger Network.

Counting down to #1 in reverse order... drum roll please...

10. Completing the Bassmaster “BASS Slam” Challenge with a fly rod (catching all 9 species/subspecies of Micropterus in 1 year including: Northern Largemouth, Florida Largemouth, Spotted, Alabama Spotted, Smallmouth, Redeye, Suwannee, Shoal, and Guadalupe… they haven’t added the Neosho Smallmouth or “Bartram’s Bass” to the list yet, but I expect they will as the challenge grows in popularity)

9. Fly fishing for Redfish anywhere on the Gulf Coast (I really should have crossed this off the list already… I guess I’ll get around to it soon enough)

8. Fly fishing the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota for big Smallmouth, Pike, and Musky (I’ll be in a kayak instead of a canoe… I hope that is permissible… I would also like to fish the upper Mississippi for Bronzebacks when I make my way to the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”)

7. Fly fishing for Bonefish in Belize (Kelly really wants to revisit Belize… next time she will be taking me and a fly rod… well, I guess two fly rods if she wants to have fun too)

6. Fly fishing for monster Brook Trout in Labrador (I’ll never forget the first time I saw this on TV with Italo Labignan chunking mouse flies and repeatedly catching these unbelievable Brookies fish… I can’t even call them Brookies… sounds way too sweet for these Canadian beasts)

5. Alaska (‘nuff said)

4. Fly fishing for Golden Dorado somewhere in the Bolivian headwaters of the Amazon (after seeing the short film “Devil’s Gold” by Castaway Films, I am a believer in “fly fishing’s El Dorado”)

3. Africa… climb Mount Kilimanjaro, catch a Tigerfish on fly, photograph wildlife, play with a wild Rock Python, see wild African Wild Dogs (I could go on and on… let’s just say I could have a lot fun on an African adventure)

2. Learn to SCUBA dive, get certified to do so, dive the Great Barrier Reef (could also be accomplished on the same trip as #1… Kelly is already SCUBA certified so she’s one step ahead of me on this one… while I’m in Australia I also have to visit Australia Zoo and the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve)

1. Fly fishing for Barramundi in Australia (which could theoretically happen soon if/when Kelly and I get hitched and take the honeymoon trip we really want)

I plan to accomplish all of these things in the company of my #1 fishing partner, Kelly. The experience wouldn't be the same without her. She'll probably outlive me, but hopefully we can cross off most of them before I kick it.